President Vladimir Putin could use any peace talks over Ukraine as an opportunity to rebuild Russia’s battered forces for a fresh onslaught, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has warned.
Mr Cleverly said western powers needed to be “very, very careful” in the event the Russian leader seeks to initiate negotiations purporting to seek an end to the conflict.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, he said there was a risk “a ceasefire is actually just used by Putin to train up more troops and to produce more ammunition and to refit his damaged armed forces and to rearm his armed forces”.
His warning came after US President Joe Biden said he would be prepared to talk to Mr Putin if he was genuinely looking to end the war — something that has not happened so far.
French President Emmanuel Macron has also said he would carry on speaking to the Russian leader to try to prevent any further escalation and to achieve “very concrete results” such as ensuring the safety of nuclear plants.
However, Mr Cleverly, who this week attended a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Bucharest, questioned whether Mr Putin would really engage “in good faith”.
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The coffin of Valeriy Krasnyan is brought out of St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv. Getty Images -
Repairmen work near a residential building damaged following a missile attack in Vyshgorod, outside of Kyiv. AFP -
An elderly man walks in front of a residential building damaged following a missile attack in Vyshgorod. AFP -
A boy kisses a dog while he charges his phone at the heating tent dubbed a Point of Invincibly in Bucha, Ukraine. AP -
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Workers dig out a tire from the rubble of a destroyed storage building at a grain processing center so they can use it for repairs in Siversk, Donetsk region. Reuters -
The Chernihiv region found itself on the frontline of Russia's invasion in February, when Moscow's forces were attempting to quickly seize Kyiv. Getty -
Russia ultimately retreated from northern Ukraine to focus its attack on the east and south. Getty -
The city of Chernihiv on November 28, 2022 in Chernihiv, Ukraine. Getty -
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Oleksandr Antonenko stands on a balcony of his apartment damaged by a recent Russian military strike in Kherson. Reuters -
Mr Antonenko and his mother Liudmyla inside their apartment recently damaged by a Russian military strike in Kherson. Reuters -
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A Ukrainian soldier stands with a machinegun near Liman in the Donetsk region. AP -
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Residents inspect a crater left by a Russian military strike in the village of Komyshuvakha in the Zaporizhzhia region. Reuters -
Resident Tetiana Reznychenko walks past a work by world-renowned graffiti artist Banksy, on the wall of a destroyed building in the Ukrainian village of Horenka. Reuters -
Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery at Russian positions near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. AP -
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“The point is that we’ve got to be very, very careful if ‘peace’ talks — and I use the word ‘peace’ in inverted commas there — [are] initiated by Vladimir Putin,” he said.
He added that if the Russians used any pause in the fighting simply as cover to rearm, there could be even further trouble down the line.
“Then all that will happen is we’ll see exactly these scenes again, but maybe, what, I don’t know, six, 12, 18 months’ time,” he said.
Mr Cleverly added: “The resolution to this needs to be sustainable, it needs to be meaningful, it needs to be real.
“What we have got to watch out for is a pause being utilised by Russia as just a way of making sure that its next phase of aggression is more effective than this current phase.
“And look, Vladimir Putin has got form on this. Georgia, that was going to be a one-off, wasn’t it? Crimea, that was going to be a one-off, wasn’t it? Eastern Ukraine, that was going to be a one-off.
“And actually what we saw is they were all building up towards this most latest wave of aggression.”
